The Best One Yet - 🍨 “Ice Cream of the Future” — Dippin’ Dots’ resurrection. YouTube’s now #1 for podcasts. Northwestern’s stadium disruption.

Episode Date: November 19, 2024

Dippin’ Dots was bankrupt… but a 2nd scientific breakthrough has given it a hot comeback.YouTube is now the #1 podcast platform, beloved by Gen Z… Apple is for oldies, Spotify for Millennials.Northwestern University’s new football stadium is the most expensive… but also the smallest?Plus, how Levi’s 501 jeans went from gold rush miners to Bruce Springsteen’s butt… and took down the Berlin Wall.$JJSF $GOOG $AAPL $SPOTCheck out our Instagram for your chance at free TBOY holiday merch: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod Want more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of Levi’s 501s: The World’s 1st Jeans 👖Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.—-----------------------------------------------------GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, November 19th. And today's pod, and all the pods we've ever done is the best one yet. It's a T-boy. Here's the top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack, everybody is staring at me. I know. I know. Because I'm wearing head-to-to-tow T-boy merch. The sweatsuit looks amazing. People keep touching me. They're not touching you. Yeah, they're touching it because it's puff-print. They're touching my chest. It's crazy. Yeties, we're actually giving away a full, set of our new holiday merch. You could win an entire kit for free of our T-Boy merch outfit. This thing's wild. Just go to our Instagram at T-BoyPod to learn more. The best merch we've ever done, Jack, three stories for today's pod. What do we got on to T-boy?

For our first story, YouTube just passed a major milestone. YouTube is now number one in podcasting with 31% of the market. Besties, if you don't get your pods on YouTube, the reason is your age. And we'll explain more. For our second story, it's Dippin' Dots. The self-proclaimed ice cream of the future just had its second scientific breakthrough. Because Dippendot solved the biggest problem, the coldest problem, in the freezer. And our third and final story is Northwestern University.

They're building a stadium, a football stadium, with a strange business twist. Get this. This is the most expensive stadium in college sports history. But it's also the smallest stadium in college sports. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories. stories, Jack, love the mix for T-Boy Tuesday. Nick and I are not in your closet, but we know what's in your closet. Everyone, all of you, each single one of us, except for me, has a pair of jeans. And odds are the jeans you own are Levi's jeans. Because Levi Strauss

Inc. invented the blue jeans. Yeties, we just dropped the sixth episode of our new weekly show, The Best Idea Yet. The Best Idea Yet. The Untold Origin Stories of the products you're obsessed with. this week's episode is all about Levi's jeans, specifically the OG 501 version. And Jack, why are we focusing specifically on the Levi's 501s? Because they're the most popular genes ever created. But Yetis, these blue jeans, the Levi's 501s, they actually have the most unfashionable history you could ever imagine.

Because the 501s were invented during the gold rush in the 1870s for gold miners. And yet they ended up on the butts of celebrities like Brad Pitt and Marilyn Ro. Nick and I actually have a plausible argument that the Levi's 501 jeans tore down the Berlin wall and won us the Cold War. Yeah, Bruce Springsteen, you agree with us or what? Because Levi's jeans are the greatest force of capitalism in the history of capital. Mr. Gorbachev, tear off these jeans. So later today, after this episode, check out our new deep dive show, The Best Idea Yet. Jack and I drop the link in today's episode description. Because the Levi's 501s is the best idea yet. But today's T-Boy show is fantastic. So, Jack, should we hit our three stories? Let's hit me. Fifteen years before this song.

Two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go.

We can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, what is the top podcast platform today? Well, a new report says it's not Apple and it's not Spotify. It's YouTube. But if you tell us your age, we can tell you what platform you listen on. Jack, to kick off this story, let's go back, Memory Lane, our first podcast episode,

audio only six years ago. It's like right before my wedding and we were an audio podcast. But since 2022, we turned on the... cameras. We've been a video podcast on YouTube as well. Although we should point out, but based on the data, most of you listen to us, you don't watch us on YouTube. 95% of our audience listens only. And here's why that's bizarre, because according to Edison research, YouTube just became the number one platform for podcasts this year. Here's the news. YouTube has a 31% market share, which is ahead of Spotify's 24% and ahead of

Apple's 15%. I'm not crying, Jack, but I feel like we could take this. personally. How come no one wants to see us? They only want to hear us. Jack's got great teeth. Jack, your smile's incredible. Have I told you about my skincare routine? All 42 steps of it. Yeties, if you want to enjoy this pod more, you could watch us. Jack looks fantastic over there. He's going to brighten your day. But this update about YouTube winning and podcasting is perfect timing. Because we just finished the podcast election, it's time for us redefine what podcasts even are. So Jack and I jumped in T-boy style. And we got fascinating data on how you listen to podcasts. There are wildly clear demographic differences when it comes to what podcast

platform you prefer. Basically, if you tell us your age and your gender, we'll tell you which podcast app you are listening to us on right now. The data shows that Gen Z prefers YouTube, millennials prefer Spotify, and Gen X and Boomers prefer Apple. And check, why is there this divide based on age among the podcast platforms? What podcast platform you use depends on what was big when you began podcasts. Basically, we all have platform loyalty when it comes to podcasts. You started listening one day on this? You ain't going to leave this for that. And here's why YouTube is winning with Gen Z. YouTube CEO recently said this. When Gen Z turns on the TV, they turn on YouTube. And increasingly, YouTube is using its algorithm to show them podcasts instead of typical YouTube videos.

For example, let's say you watched a video about online dating. The next video YouTube is going to show you is a Call Her Daddy episode. That's a podcast episode. And after you watch one episode of Call Her Daddy, YouTube is going to show you another and another and another and your cue is going to be full of podcast episodes before you know it. One of the best YouTube visual analogies we ever got was that like YouTube is a store, but when you walk in, they rearrange all the aisles to be personalized to you every time you walk in. And if you show an interest in podcast the first time you walk in, they assume you love podcast the second time you walk in. So add it all up and younger people are watching podcasts because it's all they've ever known. them video podcasts as their first pods. Older people listen to podcasts because that's all they've ever known. They started with Apple back in the day. They started with cereal. And from the day to Jack and I

have seen of our own audience, men are more likely to get us on YouTube while women are more likely to get us on Spotify. We appreciate all the men out there who are looking at us on YouTube right now. No judgments, women, but we could use some love too. Now yet he's since marketers crave young people all the time. Now the entire podcast industry is pivoting to video. So Spotify just announced last week the biggest update to podcasts on Spotify ever. Spoiler alert, Spotify is doubling down on podcast videos, videos, videos, which annoyingly we can't participate in for annoying technical advertising reasons. And they haven't fixed all the bells and whistles yet. So if you want to watch us, YouTube's still the only place you can for now. But apparently you don't want to watch us because you're just listening.

And I want to take away for our buddies who look fantastic over at YouTube. Media is no longer contained in buckets. Media has spilled into each other. Yeah, it is. Jack and I just clarified that YouTube, a video platform, is winning in audio. And Spotify, an audio platform, is investing in video. But pause the pod jack, because Twitter, originally a text platform, is investing in both audio and video. Meanwhile, Instagram is no longer just picking.

They're everything. Text, images, and video on Instagram. Besties, there was a time when the media industry had to pick a medium. You were radio, newspaper, magazine, or TV. You were audio, you were text, you were pictures, or you were video. But now, with digital media, you don't have to choose one. You can pick them all. Actually, maybe you've got to do all of them, Jack.

You got to do every single one. Maybe you have to be in each medium in order to survive as a media platform. And yet he's that's why Jack and I believe media is not. longer contained in buckets. Audio, text, pictures, and video, they've all spilled into each other. For our second story, Dippin' Dots, the self-proclaimed ice cream of the future went bankrupt back in 2011. But a second scientific breakthrough is giving Dippin Dots a second life. Uh, yetties, we all remember our first time, don't we, Jack? It was awkward, it was uncomfortable. I don't know what you're talking about, Jack. I was thinking about my first.

bite a Dippendots. That's what I was thinking about, which are those chili balls of ice cream that are like frozen beads of flavor. I don't know about you, man. Dippendots, they're shaped in quarter inch spheres of beaded ice cream. They're like hoggins does for astronauts. And Jack, now that I think of it, there was a Dippendot store. We would like Friday night, movie theater, put on some juicy sweatpants walking over past the Pinkberry and go to Dippendot's in 86th Street. Well, it's apropos because Dippendots was actually invented by accident in 1988. just like you and me were. That's right.

Invented by Kurt Jones, a Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, go salukies. Kurt Jones majored in agriculture, so he tried to use cryogenics to create frozen food for cows. But he ended up accidentally mixing cream with the liquid nitrogen

in like a very bizarre but delicious twist of fate. So he battened that technology and turned it into a commercial ice cream product. And that product was DippinDOTS. Dippin' dots. And Jack, what kind of numbers was Dippin' dots doing at its height? At its height, it had a thousand locations you could buy it in America

with 95% brand recognition. That's right. The reason I saw Dippin' Dots at like six bar mitzvahs Jack was because 95% of America recognized the Dippin' Dots brand. But soon thereafter, Dippin Dots, well, they dipped. The frozen balls hit the walls. Yes, they did. And Dippin Dots filed for bankruptcy in 2011 for a few reasons. The main reason was logistics. It was. Because get this, due to the molecular makeup of dip and dots, they must be kept at negative 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or else the balls will melt into each other. Now, Jack, could you sprinkle on some more chemistry context for us over there, please? A typical commercial freezer bottoms out at zero degrees.

You can't get down to a negative 40, which meant that forever, dipping dots could only be served at special dip and dots distributors. Best you think about it. That is why you've only seen dip and dots available at theme parks and restaurants that were controlled by Dippendots. Those are the only places that had these special freezers that could go down to negative 40. So that logistical challenge, it limited distribution.

Trader Joe's never touched Dippin Dots. Oh, and since 60% of ice cream sales happened through grocery stores, we repeat, 60% of ice cream sales are at the grocery store in Isle 6. And Dippin Dots got none of that, so they went bankrupt. Basically, ironically, Dippin Dots got burned.

But two years ago, Dippendots was acquired by J&J snack foods. a publicly traded $3 billion company. This is the company behind slush puppies and Luigi's Water Ice. Now they own Dippin' dots too. And Dippendots? It's never looked better, has it, Jack, when it comes to the numbers. Thanks to this new parent, they're at $300 million in sales,

which is their highest revenue, and they've never been more profitable. So research and development is the new focus of this new company. They're going to make the ice cream of the future the future again. So, Jack, even though you've never had a Dippendot, and now I've outed you, what's the takeaway? for our buddies over at Diff and Dots. We have Ben and Jerry's up here, man. The takeaway, though, is that distribution is destiny.

Distribution is destiny. Yeties, here's the news headline. Dippendots just solved their grocery store problem. That's right. Dippendots solved that Antarctica temperature issue that we just described. Dippendot's new product is a Sunday that comes in four packs at the grocery store because it has special packaging that can survive regular. freezer temperatures. And Jack, can you describe this brand new, innovative dip and dot, please?

The dip and dot Sunday comes in an insulated container with dip and dot balls topped with classic ice cream. So there's no melting or clumping of the dots, thanks to that topping. Basically, the scientists at dip and dots deserve a Nobel. It's a scientific breakthrough, nearly as amazing as the first one that happened by accident back in 1988. Oh, and while the scientists deserve a Nobel Prize, the business development team deserves a bonus as well. Because this new product unlocks grocery stores as a distribution channel, which can easily double revenues. Again, ice cream sales, 60% of them are at the grocery stores. Until now, Dippendots' distribution has been limited to out of home. But now, you can have Dippendots

in the home. Getting in the grocery stores, that was everything in this industry. Because distribution is destiny. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Northwestern University has a new football stadium that will be the most expensive college stadium ever by far. But here's the wild part. It's also going to be one of the smallest college stadiums. And we will explain why. Now, yet it is over the weekend.

I was up in Napa at a winery, crushing cabs and pouring pinos. Jack was with his three brothers watching like 42 football games over there. You know, I come from a long line of Brattleboro High School quarterbacks. Yes, I do. watching football with all the brothers. Yes, and we were over chicken wings when we noticed something funny on the screen. Northwestern University was playing Ohio State in football at Wrigley Field. Jack, I'm sorry, I got to ask, why did Northwestern University's football team play in a baseball

stadium for their football game? It's because Northwestern's football team is temporarily homeless. That's right, Yetty's. Their stadium at Northwestern, Ryan Field, it was demolished to make room for their new stadium, the new Ryan Field. And yesterday, Northwestern unveiled both the price tag and the design of this brand new stadium.

And it happens to be the strangest combination of two extremes that we have ever seen. Because the new Ryan Field is going to be the most expensive collegiate stadium by far at $850 million to construct. Jack, that is two times bigger

than any other college stadium in America. And it's going to be privately funded by the Ryan family whose descendants will always be accepted to Northwestern after this. And no taxpayer money was needed for this expensive stadium. Which is really nice. So, Yetis, this brand new stadium is two times more expensive than any other stadium in America. That is a wild stat.

But the wilder part, it's that this huge stadium that's the most expensive by far is going to be half as big as other stadiums. Get this, Yetis, the most expensive college stadium in America is only going to be able to fit 35,000 people. That's it. That makes it the smallest in the Big Ten conference by far. Now, Jack, to sprinkle on some context here, you went to University of Michigan for graduate school and business school, and I visited you for a football game there and was really cold, so could you sprinkle on more context? Michigan and Penn State are both three times bigger than this new Northwestern Stadium.

So besties, Jack, and I got to ask, if Northwestern's new stadium is spending the most money ever on the new stadium, why not make it the biggest one ever? Well, in their announcement, Northwestern implied that watching a game at a big stadium like Michigan or Penn State kind of stinks for the viewer. Big stadiums have bleachers, but this new stadium has none. Every seat has a comfortable back. And big stadiums are bowl-shaped, with seats mathematically far from the field. But this stadium is built like a steep steel dome, with each seat twice as close to the field compared to Michigan. In fact, all 35,000 seats offer better than TV sightlines because who's their real competition these days, Jack?

Staying at home and watching on TV. So they have engineered the most expensive stadium in America for a new kind of business model. This new stadium basically kills the nosebleed section. Every seat is a really good seat. Instead, they focused on comfort and closeness, so we focused on a takeaway. Now, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone in the sports industry? stadiums have stolen a strategy from airlines. Comfort Plus. Yeties, most stadiums make big profit on luxury boxes and then some profit on selling a lot of cheap leacher seats.

Airlines are kind of similar. They make big profit on business class seats and then some profit on a lot of economy seats. But an interesting new phenomenon has developed in how airlines make money, specifically how they make more profits. For instance, Delta Airlines. They have a new premium section that's in between. It's Comfort Plus. It's between economy and business. And that Comfort Plus section is getting bigger and bigger and taking up more and more rows of the airplanes these days. Northwestern is taking that insight from airlines and applying it to sports.

Right. They're making every seat in the stadium, Comfort Plus. Northwestern is going for the meaty middle, the premium economy seats of sports. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? For the first time, the data shows more podcasts being listened to on YouTube than anywhere else. YouTube, it became number one because media is no longer contained in buckets, media has spilled into each other. For our second story, it's Dippin' Dots. They're back and better than ever, and now in grocery stores for the first time. That could double sales,

because distribution is destiny. And if Leonardo Dividuette ice cream, you'd probably eat Dippin Dots. I don't know about that. I'm pretty sure I read a book about him, Jack. And our third and final story is Northwestern University. They're building a football stadium that's both the expensive ever and really, really small. Northwestern is stealing a trick from the airline industry. Every seat is Comfort Plus. But yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, speak of airlines, Spirit Airlines officially filed for bankruptcy. And this, although it will continue operating for now as a functioning airline. The best case,

Spirit gets acquired by JetBlue out of bankruptcy. Which is ironic because that's the merger that our regulators blocked months ago when Spirit wasn't bankrupt. Looks like they probably should have just allowed that to happen. And second, Italy just made one of the biggest mafia arrests in history, worth over $500 million of stuff. The Italian police arrested 43 mobsters in what they call their Moby Dick White Whale case. The wild part, the mobsters weren't caught for violence or real intense crimes. They were caught for tax fraud.

They created fake companies to collect real money from the government. in a massive rod. And finally, Netflix's Christmas Day NFL game. It's a home game for the Houston Texans. It's also a home game for Houston-based Beyonce. That's right. Netflix is going to have Beyonce perform at the halftime show of their Christmas game down in Houston this year.

Which means this will be the biggest halftime performance since Beyonce's 2013 Super Bowl halftime performance. The data don't lie. Fun fact, Baltimore Ravens won that Super Bowl, and Baltimore Ravens are also playing in this Christmas game. It all comes together. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Yeti Timothy Fisher,

down and lovely Little Rock, Arkansas. Push and play. Let's hit it, Jack. Hey, Yeties. Did you know that the U.S. has had a variety of presidential pets dating all the way back to George Washington's turn? Some were personally owned, and others were gifts from other countries. And we know people ultimately prioritize puppies. Yeah.

But the range of White House residents from a different species has also included a few offbeat choices, like a laughing hyena, an alligator, a goose, and what I find the most intriguing, a silkworm that the first lady actually spun silk from. Wait a minute. A president had an alligator as a pet in the White House? I mean, it's got to be Teddy Roosevelt. This has got Teddy written all over if I've ever seen a pet jack. Okay, here it is. John Quincy Adams. Wow.

Allowed his pet alligator to live in the White House. So many questions. Oh, the alligator was a gift from Lafayette. Lafayette helped us win the Revolutionary War and got us a reptile in the White House. Not too shabby. That's really cool. Yeties, you look fantastic today. But if you want to look more fantastic, Jack and I have the perfect outfit choice for you,

don't with Jack? Our T-Boy holiday merch, sales are open through tomorrow, and you could get a kit for free if you participate in our giveaway at T-Boypot on Instagram. Jack, I got the sweatsuit on right now. I'm wearing it all week. I'm not taking it off. I'm not washing it. I'm just wearing it.

It's fantastic. Yeties, you've got to buy this. The product will arrive before Christmas so you can get it for yourself as a gift or for someone else. And then after you jump in T-boy style to our T-boy merch, we've got the perfect episode for you, don't we, Jack? The best idea yet? Yeah.

Episode 6 drops today. It's about the Levi's 501 jeans. It's our new weekly show on the products you're obsessed with, and we're going to tell you everything about the Levi's 501s. So follow us on Instagram, check out our new merch, grab your pet alligator, and Nick and I'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait. And before we go, congratulations to Yeti Pat Mehan Down in Bradenton, Florida, who completed the Spartan Ultra Race in South Carolina, reaching his goal with an epic time and celebrating with a huge pizza. Happy 40th birthday, Pat.

And speaking of 40, Natalie Camargo just hit 4-0 in New York City celebrating the birthday with her mom. Happy birthday to Kristen Cruz in Warren, Michigan, who's killing it at work right now. And Mike Payne and Olympia, Washington is a small business owner with a graphic design background and being a fantastic birthday dad. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both on stock, FAPL and Spotify, and Nick own stock in Delta.